I know this topic about Bell has probably been covered here before...

[mikekim]

but, HONESTLY, how many people here noticed something in him when he was with the spurs???

I really liked him and was honestly hoping that he would stay with the spurs. I know the spurs liked him too (they recommended him to larry brown in philly I believe), but obviously not enough...

I know he's a bit dirty...but he could've easily been bruce bowen's successor. I am in no way saying Bruce is dirty...I think Bruce is anything but. Now, I know that bruce has been accused of being dirty, but Raja, although it is all in the name of tough, physical defense, seems to put more than a bit of personal emotion and personal grudges into his physicality--something that Bruce doesn't do.

With that said, given the Spurs' team and character-oriented environment (I know many opposing teams' fans will never say the spurs, esp. bowen, are character guys...), Raja could easily have turned out to be another spur-type, bowen-type, class act, perennial all-nba defender (he already got his first all-nba selection this year).

So....does anyone here wish we would've kept him (there's no doubt in my mind that this has been covered here actually...but I'm kind of new here, and i haven't seen such a thread yet, and there's no more search feature..what happened to that thing...)??

I'm not saying I'm crazy smart for liking what I saw in a training camp guy and ultimately being proven right... :lol ....no but seriously, I mentioned here before that I liked what I saw in Derrick Dial too...that didn't turn out too well.

[mikekim]

My bad...the search feature's back up...and there has sort of been a thread discussing this already...sorry

[mikekim]

oh C'mon! geez! no one thought raja had any value back then?! No one?!

(alright, if no one posts, i won't post again on this thread...i'll try to talk to the laker fans that surround me here in so-cal about it...yeah...)

[bdictjames]

I didnt know Bell was an ex-Spur.

I only knew that he was in the Mavs once.

He would be sick when here with the Spurs, considering he does play good defense and doesn't make too many mistakes. If only we could do something about the attitude.

[jag]

oh C'mon! geez! no one thought raja had any value back then?! No one?!

(alright, if no one posts, i won't post again on this thread...i'll try to talk to the laker fans that surround me here in so-cal about it...yeah...)

what the hell are you talkin about????? when was raja a spur??

[Axl Van Dam]

but, HONESTLY, how many people here noticed something in him when he was with the spurs???

I really liked him and was honestly hoping that he would stay with the spurs. I know the spurs liked him too (they recommended him to larry brown in philly I believe), but obviously not enough...

I know he's a bit dirty...but he could've easily been bruce bowen's successor. I am in no way saying Bruce is dirty...I think Bruce is anything but. Now, I know that bruce has been accused of being dirty, but Raja, although it is all in the name of tough, physical defense, seems to put more than a bit of personal emotion and personal grudges into his physicality--something that Bruce doesn't do.

With that said, given the Spurs' team and character-oriented environment (I know many opposing teams' fans will never say the spurs, esp. bowen, are character guys...), Raja could easily have turned out to be another spur-type, bowen-type, class act, perennial all-nba defender (he already got his first all-nba selection this year).

So....does anyone here wish we would've kept him (there's no doubt in my mind that this has been covered here actually...but I'm kind of new here, and i haven't seen such a thread yet, and there's no more search feature..what happened to that thing...)??

I'm not saying I'm crazy smart for liking what I saw in a training camp guy and ultimately being proven right... :lol ....no but seriously, I mentioned here before that I liked what I saw in Derrick Dial too...that didn't turn out too well.

:wtf Raja Bell was a Spur? When was this? :wtf

[ChumpDumper]

He was in training camp.

[jag]

:wtf Raja Bell was a Spur? When was this? :wtf

he's been in the league 6 years, i remember he came from Florida International and he came into the league with the sixers....He's never been a spur!

the OP is worthless

[Pistons < Spurs]

Bell grew up in the greater Miami area attending Miami Killian Senior High School. He began his college career at Boston University, but after two seasons was forced to transfer to Florida International University. Bell went undrafted out of college. He signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs on August 2, 2000, but never played a game for them. He was eventually released, and signed with the Philadelphia 76ers on April 16, 2001. He played limited minutes in the final five of the Sixers' games in the 2000-01 regular season, but saw action in 15 of the team's 23 playoff games. The little-used Bell starred in Game 7 of the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals, scoring in double figures and rallying the Sixers from an early deficit against the Bucks as the 76ers won easily. He played in all five games for the 76ers in the 2001 NBA Finals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_Bell

[jag]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_Bell

romain sato also signed as a free agent with the spurs and i'm pretty sure he, like bell, never even practiced with the team, does that mean he was a spur too??

[mikekim]

bell was a spur and he played in the preseason games that year...he looked good to me back then. He was quick and athletic, potential (when i say potential...i don't mean it as any reasonable person means now...but as a young 8th/9th grade kid who liked nothing but athleticism and slashing) for excitement.

later on, i liked him at philly too, even though he didn't do all that much.

[K-State Spur]

romain sato also signed as a free agent with the spurs and i'm pretty sure he, like bell, never even practiced with the team, does that mean he was a spur too??

well, you can argue whether or not never playing a game for the team actually makes him ever a member of the team. but the point is that he was property of the spurs for a short while.

in hindsight, the team probably should have kept him in favor of someone else (jaren jackson anyone?), but the team has won 2 championships since then, and while he's always been a good defender, he has improved greatly since his early days.

[hoopdreams11]

He was in camp he played good but his offense wasn't that great back then.